Songs to sing along

The German Hall, T. Nagar, venue of the audio launch of Rajkennady Films’ Lollu Dada Parak Parak, resembled a shop. Producer-actor Mansoor Ali Khan had created the ambience of a music store in which the audio CDs of the film were on display. Not just the ambience, even his way of marketing the CDs was unique — the price of a CD was only Rs. 15. “Rather than pricing them high and not selling a single CD, I priced them very low at Rs. 15 each, to ensure they found a place in everyone’s home,” said Mansur. CPI leader Tha. Pandian launched the cassette, and the first copy was received by producer-director S.A. Chandrasekaran. The film features Mansoor Ali Khan in the lead, with Shilpa, Parveen, Uma Shree, V.A. Murthy, Kumari Muthu, Vaiyapuri, Pandu, Shakeela, Delhi Ganesh, Kullamani and Haarthi playing important roles. The camerawork is by S.R. Vettri, editing by L. Kesavan, art by Rajan and direction by J. Jaikumar. Mansoor Ali Khan has directed the music and penned the lyrics, besides producing the film.

Music highlights

There are six songs in the album. The title song ‘Lollu Dada Parak Parak’ is sung by Mahathi and Mahina. The peppy ‘Aambam Pusa Baam’, sung by Roopa, Julaiha Ali Khan, Dilruba Ali Khan and Pavan, is for the front-benchers. Malathi’s melodious voice makes ‘Thiruvaruru Theru’ a must-listen. There’s also a number by Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram. J.S.K. Sona sings ‘Panam Panam’, which is subsequently repeated by the director himself. ‘Punagai Poove’, sung by Sriram and Krithika, wraps up the album.

What they say…

Producer-music director-lyricist-hero Mansoor Ali Khan: I’ve acted in 150 films in all the South Indian languages. I have produced six films , and this is my seventh. My first Tamil release was Velai Kedachirukku, but it was Captain Prabhakaran that made me a popular name. As far as writing lyrics and scoring music are concerned, I have done it for two of my earlier films and this is my third. Lollu Dada is an out-and-out entertainer.

Director J. Jaikumar: I had worked as an assistant to Velu Prabhakaran. Mansoor Ali Khan and I became friends when we both happened to work together on some films. I am grateful to him for the directorial break he has given me with his home production Lollu Dada. It’s a comedy with around 42 comedians acting in it. The story is about a man (Mansoor) who is unable to get back the money he has lent.